The present invention relates generally to navigational devices, and more particularly to systems and methods for providing alerts to navigational devices.
Navigational and position-finding devices have become popular in recent years. Such devices are typically used by aviators, boaters, outdoorsmen, and persons navigating unfamiliar streets in an automobile. The devices typically use global positioning system (GPS) technology to determine the position (e.g. in latitude and longitude) of the device and, in some cases, the altitude of the device.
Many GPS devices have map information stored in a memory device or accept such information from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM. When the latitudinal and longitudinal position of the device is located using GPS techniques, a map marking the position is displayed on a display device. A user of the GPS device can thus navigate using the map based on geographic or cartographic features of the environment in which the user is navigating.